The gifts CFK, Pope Francis exchanged

President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and Pope Francis exchange gifts.

Before sitting for lunch at Santa Marta residence in the Vatican, and as tradition dictates, Pope Francis and Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner exchanged official gifts.

The head of state handed a thermos bottle over to the Pope, which is used in Argentina to keep the water hot enough for the “mate” South American infusion. She also gave him two books about Argentina’s Bicentenary; and a painting of Saint Rose of Lima, made with Malbec wine.

The pontiff gave the president an image of Argentine Liberator José de San Martín made in bronze and a rosary, a present he handed over to the entire delegation, constituted, among others, by Foreign Minister Héctor Timerman, Public Communications Secretary Alfredo Scoccimarro, Cult Secretary Guillermo Oliveri, and the Argentine Ambassador to the Vatican Juan Pablo Cafiero.